Latest generation of cancer drugs offers hope to brain tumour sufferers

BRAIN tumour sufferers have been given new hope with the emergence of a new cancer treatment.

Irish researchers are in a race to identify the patients who can be treated with a new generation of cancer- busting drugs.

The potentially groundbreaking research project is being led by researchers at Dublin City University (DCU), working in partnership with Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

The team is examining glioma tumours, which often outsmart traditional treatments such as surgery and quickly invade healthy brain tissue.

A glioma tumour, the most common type of brain tumour, is particularly damaging because it tends to quickly sprout and spread within the brain.

Scientists involved in the research are examining glioma samples donated by patients at Beaumont Hospital.

They want to identify patients who might respond to a new group of drugs called Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs), and those who don’t.

The research, supported by Cancer Research Ireland (CRI) — the research division of the Irish Cancer Society — may enable brain surgeons and oncologists to identify patients who will respond to the drugs.

The latest data from the National Cancer Registry shows that around 213 new brain tumour cases are diagnosed every year, and there are 264 deaths from the disease annually.

More than half of all brain tumours are gliomas, which develop from the supporting cells of the brain known as the glial cells.

Despite major improvements in the surgical treatment of the invasive tumours, the overall prognosis is poor because they are extremely resistant to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

CRI has invested 197,000 in the research, which could ultimately lead to ways of reducing the rate of growth of gliomas and their capacity to infiltrate brain tissue.

The project leader is Dr Verena Amberger-Murphy, a biomedical scientist and expert in brain tumour research who has previously worked in Canada and Switzerland but is now based at DCU.

She said TKIs had already been used to treat gliomas and had shown potential benefit in a sub-group of patients.

The challenge was to identify in advance those patients who would respond to the treatment, she said.

Cancer research officer with the Irish Cancer Society, Dr Patrick Corley, said there was little research on improving the treatment for brain tumour sufferers.

He said there was excitement that “this research, which has direct relevance to patient care, is being carried out in Ireland.”

TKIs are known as targeted therapies, and examples are Gleevec and Tarceva.

Gleevec is used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia and gastrointestinal tumours, while Tarceva is used to treat lung and pancreatic cancer.

Anyone worried about any aspect of cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment or follow-up care can call the Irish Cancer Society’s freefone number — 1800 200 700 — or email to [e-mail].